1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk reproducing apparatus which can contain a plurality of information recording disks (referred to simply as disk hereinafter) arrayed in series and can serially reproduce the disks, and more particularly to an on vehicle disk reproducing apparatus installed in a dashboard of a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
As a disk player which contains a plurality of disks arrayed in series and allows reproduction of a desired disk any time, there is a known apparatus which uses a magazine or the like containing therein disks separately from a main unit of the player. In this type of player, when a disks is to be reproduced, at first a disk contained in a magazine is protruded in the horizontal direction together with a tray, and a reproducing means including a turn table or the like is moved near to the disk having been moved in the horizontal direction from the underside, and the disk is clamped onto the turn table for reproduction.
Also there is an apparatus in which magazines each containing a disk therein are moved apart in the vertical direction, and a reproducing means is moved into a space between the separated magazine parts for reproducing a disk, as, for instance, the disk player disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. Hei 3-235249.
Furthermore, there is a known disk player in which a plurality of disks are inserted from a disk insertion slot, each disk is transferred by a disk carrier means such as a roller mechanism into a disk storage section, a plurality of disks are contained and arrayed in multiple stages therein, a desired disk is selected from the contained ones, and the selected disk is reproduced. In this type of disk player, when a disk to be reproduced is selected, it is required to move the disk storage section in the direction of disk array, namely in the vertical direction, and to position the desired disk at a specified height against the reproducing means including the turn table or the like. When a disk to be released is selected, it is necessary to move the disk storage section also in the vertical direction and to position the disk to be released at a specified height against the disk carrier means.
However, in the disk players as described above, as relative movement to position a disk against the reproducing means is made by either one, a longer time from generation of an instruction for disk reproduction until execution of reproduction is required as compared to a signal disk player which contains only one sheet of disk.
In a disk player having a disk insertion slot, a disk carrier means, and a multiple-stage disk storage section, when a disk to be reproduced is to be selected, it is necessary to enable movement of the disk storage section in a range so as to be capable of selecting all disks contained therein at a position of the reproducing means as a reference. When a disk is to be inserted and also a disk to be discharged is selected, it is required to enable movement of the disk storage section in a range so as to be capable of selecting all the disks contained therein at a position of the disk carrier means as a reference. Accordingly, size of the apparatus inevitably becomes larger in the direction of movement of the disk storage section, for example, in the vertical direction.